[Opinion] Beef Imports and Teachers

To the bafflement of the older generation, teenagers are participating en mass in candlelight vigils against the resumption of U.S. beef imports. Parents in their 40s and 50s cannot understand why their children love comedy shows like “Infinity Challenge” or “Oot Chat Sa.” Likewise, they wonder why their children took to the streets in protest of U.S. beef imports. Some say teenagers are a different breed of human than their parents, but this is not enough to explain the situation. What adults can do is to just wish nothing unfortunate happens to teenagers who join the protests.

A psychologist blames a characteristic of teen Internet users called “unite and make an issue.” This means they tend to unite on the Internet over an eye-catching cause and attract social attention to it. Some scholars say teenagers are expressing interest in political and social issues. But this is hard to agree with. Teenagers are participating in spreading horror stories about mad cow disease, citing “scientific evidence,” but their arguments have many flaws.

One circulating rumor says a malformed infectious protein called prion, which is widely believed to cause mad cow disease, is an immortal virus not killed in 300-degree heat. Prior, however, is a malformed protein rather than a virus and it cannot survive such high temperatures. Teenagers are just fabricating unscientific evidence to support their conclusion: “Beef produced in the U.S. is from mad cows.” Such a sensationalistic approach to the sensitive issue of food safety is the result of the irrational tendency of online behavior. For this reason, we cannot blame teen participation in social and political issues for the situation.

Teachers know these teenagers best, but they are just sitting idly by. Certain teachers are even encouraging their students to join the protest. One reportedly asked his students to raise their hands if they like President Lee Myung-bak and instructed them to watch the MBC-TV magazine program “PD Notebook” aired the previous week. The program was the very trigger that caused a massive ripple effect with exaggerated reports on U.S. beef. Teachers have an obligation to teach their students the truth. If they are not knowledgeable on an issue, they should at least tell their students that the Web rumors are groundless. There is even a text message circulating among teenagers that they should skip school on May 17 to protest American beef imports. It is high time for teachers to respond in cool-headed manner.